Dolby Atmos support in Wynk app to soon be available on PCs, tablets, more: Airtel

Airtel’s Wynk Music app, something it ships with all its prepaid and postpaid plans, recently got a major upgrade. The company announced that it is bringing Dolby Atmos support to the Wynk Music app. With this development, Airtel’s Wynk Music subscribers will be able to listen to songs from popular music labels such Yash Raj Films (YRF) and Saregama in Dolby Atmos sound quality. On the sidelines of this development, we sat down for a conversation with Edwin Charles Albert, Head – Content and Partnerships at Airtel Digital, and Karan Grover, Senior Director, Commercial Partnerships, IMEA at Dolby Laboratories, to under this feature better and the impact such advanced audio technologies have on the entire music streaming app ecosystem in India.

About supported devices

During our conversation, the Airtel Digital spokesperson said that at the moment, the Dolby Atmos support functionality is available only on iOS and Android-based smartphones. However, the company plans to expand support to other devices, such as personal computers and tablets soon. “Dolby Atmos support is currently available on iOS & android mobile devices. Dolby Atmos support on additional devices will soon be extended & will be announced to our users in due course,” Albert said in an email interaction with Techlusive, adding, “Yes, this is work in progress and we are working with the team at Dolby to enable this soon,” he added.

He also said that Dolby Atmos will be enabled by default on the smartphones that support this technology. This means that users will not have to manouvre through a series of steps within the app or on their smartphones to enable this feature. “Users only need compatible devices to enjoy Dolby Atmos on Wynk. All Dolby Atmos supported songs on Wynk will automatically play on Dolby Atmos, users have to only ensure to opt for Dolby/HD streaming quality on Wynk Music settings,” said Albert.

About Dolby Atmos enabled music

Talking about the support for Dolby Atmos technology in the Wynk Music app, the Airtel Digital spokesperson said that not all the songs available in the app support this technology. Instead, the company has curated four playlists that include songs supporting Dolby Atmos. He also that users will be able to distinguish songs supporting Dolby Atmos from the ones that don’t via a special badge. “We have curated four Dolby Atmos playlists – Bollywood Hits, Punjabi Hits, Kollywood Hits and Hindi hits with all Dolby Atmos songs together in one place for our users to be able to easily find their favourite songs that can be played on Dolby with Wynk. All Dolby Atmos-enabled track will display the Dolby Atmos badge during playback,” Grover said during the interaction.

About future

Talking about future, the Airtel Digital spokesperson said that Dolby Atmos is one of the many ways Airtel Digital is trying to improve the experience for its subscribers and that it plans to add support for more technologies in future. “With the customers at the center, we are always looking for newer ways to enhance their experience on Wynk. We promise to continue innovating and forging partnerships in line with this objective and enable our users to enjoy their favorite songs on our platform with the best experience,” Albert added.